The Entomologist
by Cora Sinclair
Summary: The scalpel gleamed under the operation light. Richard held it over Grasshopper's bound and struggling body. "Don't worry." he laughed "this won't hurt a bit." An obviously dark story. Hints of past suicide, rapist like attitude, some past mental abuse, kidnapping and violence. The original story in which "Shot" stems from. Please read and review. Don't like, don't read.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This story is mainly inspired by ShireHeart's _Stories from the Peach_ from the chapter Complacent, Demonwolf's _The Defenders_, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's _Hound of Baskerville_. ShireHeart's Stories from the Peach absolutely scared me when I read Centipede was in the hospital, Demonwolf's The _Defenders_ made a lot of sense to me because let's face it the bugs are so famous and popular that there has got to be some people out there who wish them ill. Its human nature and you have to expect it in any story. If you have read Sir Conan Doyle's _Hound of Baskerville_ then you can probably guess where I have gotten my villain from, I hope you all enjoy it and please if you have any advice or criticisms then please let me know. Thank you all for reading szmy Author's Note and please go and read _Stories from the Peach_, _The Defenders_, and _The Hound of Baskerville_.

The Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op.46: IV or better known as In the Hall of the Mountain King echoed throughout the New York Symphony Hall and ended with absolute perfection. The conductor, a man who went by the name of Dimitri Hanson, applauded the orchestra for doing a commended job.

"Excellent job, people! I think that was one of the best renditions I've ever heard!" he said with great pride.

The orchestra replied his praise with mutterings of thanks and with a little bit of applause of their own. The conductor was about to give out another command; this one being that they can be dismissed early when the Symphony Hall's main front door burst open with a horrible bang making everyone wince at the sharp pang that shot out. A fat, short, walrus like man came waddling through the doors; he was dressed in a positively hideous lime green suit which gave him the appearance of a giant lime. The man's violent red hair jutted out at odd places giving him a wild and deranged look; the man made his way to the stage as he twirled his red mustache which if it were anyone else would give them a distinguished look but for this man it only made him look insane and unhinged. Some of the orchestra members shifted uncomfortably in their seats as the man made it to the stage and stood before them looking quite intimidating if not a little bit silly.

The man looked at the orchestra as if he were inspecting them and then the man shot daggers at Mr. Dimitri Hanson as if expecting him to give him a grand entrance. Mr. Hanson ran his hand through his graying brown hair and cleared his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen I would like to introduce you to Mr. Richard Theodore Sinclair. He is the founder of the New York Symphony Hall, the man who donated the money to build this wonderful building, and the man who donated money that allowed us to purchase the magnificent instruments that you all are currently holding in your hands. Please give him your upmost praise."

The orchestra gave him unenthusiastic golf applause which was met by the most irritating laughter they had ever heard coming from Richard. A few of the orchestra members actually covered their ears to block out the nasally laughter.

"Thank you all so much for your extravagant applause." Said Richard in a very hearty voice.

A few of the orchestra members traded annoyed and exasperated looks. More than half of the orchestra had met Mr. Richard Sinclair before at assorted events and charities and it was easy to say that they didn't like him. It wasn't because of his appearance or anything he had done in the past; in fact Richard had donated money to various causes, been on the board of probably at least a thousand charities since he had inherited his family's vast fortune, he even adopted a poor orphan girl from a rundown orphanage.

All of that made him a champion in the eyes of the media but if you were like many of the orchestra members and had even a small conversation with him you would see why no one liked him. Richard Theodore Sinclair had a very sick and twisted interest in bugs. His interest with bugs went far beyond that of any Entomologist, he liked to see how bugs worked, how they reacted to certain pesticides, and amongst other things that just made anyone sick to their stomachs. To cut to the chase he liked to torture bugs and see how long they lived from various complicated experiments to the simplest cut to the thorax. Plus the fact that he was an egoistical, selfish, pompous, jack ass didn't help either, but Richard had money to make people like him and influence the media so there wasn't much anyone could do about it.

"Mr. Sinclair is there any particular reason why you're here?" asked Dimitri who tried his best to sound friendly despite his annoyance from Mr. Richard

Richard chuckled as he mistook Dimitri's irritation for fear.

"Why yes there is."

The orchestra cringed again from Richard's voice.

"As you all know I have been in the Amazon for the past year, studying a rare breed of Orthopterology or better known as grasshoppers and crickets. After my dissection of them was complete I decided to come home and what's a better way to celebrate coming home then a wonderful music piece by your very own orchestra?"

"Ha-Mr. Sinclair as I've told you before you don't own the New York Symphony-"

"Of course I own it!" exclaimed Richard causing Dimitri to flinch from the sound of his voice

"I paid for everything that you people have! Now I want to hear you perform the song!" yelled Richard

"Okay, okay….what song do you wish to hear?" asked Dimitri seeing that Richard wouldn't leave until his demand was met

"Paganini's Caprice no. 24."

"What?!" cried out Dimitri, along with the rest of the orchestra

"Mr. Sinclair that is one of the most complicated pieces of music to ever be created! It's so easy to ruin the entire song!" said Dimitri as wringed his hands

"I don't care; I want to hear it now. All of it especially the violin solo." replied Richard as he took a seat on an empty chair on the stage

One of the orchestra members stood up and said to Richard "Sir I'm sorry but we can't perform the song for you."

"And why the ruddy hell not? Are you all incapable of playing such a song? Are you all so untrained that this song is out of your reach? Hmp….I guess I wasted my money on miserable musical mongrels such as yourselves."

Dimitri could sense hate and anger radiating from the orchestra after being insulted from Mr. Sinclair. These musicians were the best in their professions; they were handpicked for their skills at playing whatever instrument they played and now Mr. Sinclair had the gall to stand there on the stage right next to so many talented people who worked hard and say that they were untalented, untrained, and that his money was wasted on them. Dimitri wanted to scream and cuss out Mr. Sinclair but unfortunately for Dimitri he was a gentleman; high on the social ladder from doing such an unruly thing not to mention that Mr. Richard Theodore Sinclair was the only patron to the Orchestra and insulting him in front of everyone was a sure fire way to get lose his job and cause the entire orchestra to lose all of their funding.

"Mr. Sinclair if it will please you at all we will play the song for you but we will not be able to do the violin solo." Said Dimitri calmly

"And why the ruddy hell not?" growled Richard

"Because our star violinist is out making a call…" replied Dimitri in an annoyed tone

"Well then call William back in here!"

Dimitri sighed and said "I'm afraid that you misinterpret me sir, see Mr. William Bellamy hasn't been among the living for eleven months now."

"Why wasn't I made aware of this?!" rumbled Richard

"Sir you were in the Amazon and we couldn't contact –"

"That's no ruddy excuse! William was the only one I could trust with you all!"

William Bellamy was one of Richard's closest friends, if you could call him a friend. William had been a member of the orchestra for many years and had a horrible reputation as well as a temper. He was mean as a human being could possibly be and was so cruel that he would have made Ebenezer Scrooge proud. He had a nasty habit of berating and threatening the other musicians to the point where they no longer wished to play to pick up their instruments and play anymore. A month after Richard had left for the Amazon; William had taken a wicked fall which resulted in his death a month later. His funeral was splashed across every newspaper in New York but in reality no had actually attended.

"This is a disaster!" shouted Richard

His voice rang out through the stage causing the musicians to flinch.

"Now I'll have to cancel this winter's Snowball Playlist, I'll have to contact every media outlet in New York to spread the news, and hold auditions by the score! Dimitri I can't believe you were so careless to allow this to happen!" ranted Richard

Dimitri sighed and could have sworn that he felt his hair slowly thinning away.

"Please relax sir; I've already hired a brilliant new violinist."

Richard turned around quickly to Dimitri and the orchestra, he was practically shaking with anger.

"YOU HAD THE GALL TO HIRE SOMEONE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!" he screamed

Richard despised it when anyone went behind his back and made decisions regarding anything that he owned. He considered it a formed of munity and was always quick to shut whoever started the supposed munity down.

"Sir please, please calm down before you lose your temper I must speak in Grasshopper's defense. He is one of the best-"

"What?" asked Richard

"I said that Grasshopper is one of the best-"

"I heard you the first time you ninny, what is the man's name?"

"Uh….Grasshopper sir, why?" asked Dimitri who was honestly confused

Richard remained silent for a few minutes as if he was thinking but Dimitri knew what was about to happen. Richard was about to explode in a violent fit which would probably result in another three possibly two musicians quitting or being fired, instruments being broken (Dimitri hoped that Richard wouldn't break the new harp; they just got it from France), and the orchestra's moral going down the proverbial crapper. But to Dimitri's surprise Richard didn't break out in his usual violent fit, he began to laugh.

"G-Grasshopper t-that's his name?"chuckled Richard

Dimitri let out a little laugh before saying "Y-yes that's his name…."

Richard gave a smile, a creepy and unnerving smile, but a smile none the less. Dimitri felt his skin crawl and knew instantly that this was just the calm before the storm.

"HIS NAME IS GRASSHOPPER?!" screamed Richard

Dimitri flinched from Richard's voice, the man wasn't very intimidating but his voice did travel. Dimitri tried to speak out but he was more worried about the safety of the orchestra and its instruments.

"YOU HIRED A MAN NAMED GRASSHOPPER?!" bellowed Richard

"Well technically and formally it's Mr. Grasshopper…" replied Dimitri

Richard's eye twitched and he yelled back in a very sarcastic voice "Perfect! Because calling him MR. Grasshopper makes all the difference!"

"Look sir, he is an excellent musician; I had to hire him."

"HIS NAME IS GRASSHOPPER! What did you do, go to Central Park and hire a hippie?"

At Richard comment Dimitri and the orchestra had to laugh, "I assure you that Mr. Grasshopper is far from being a hippie, you have my personal guarantee on that."

"My mistake, he's a beatnik!"

At this the entire orchestra began to laugh hysterically, a few members even fell out of their chairs. Richard face went red and he shouted at them "What the RUDDY HELL are you laughing at?!"

Dimitri wiped a tear away from his eye and replied "L-Look behind you!" before he resumed laughing

Richard turned around quickly and was met face to face with a six foot green grasshopper who was understandably miffed. Richard stuttered and lost the ability to speak; the grasshopper gave an annoyed sigh before moving past Richard and walked right to Dimitri who had picked himself off the floor.

"Have a good laugh?" asked the grasshopper

Dimitri stifled a laugh and replied "Sorry Grasshopper but the look on your face was just too priceless. Couldn't resist."

The grasshopper's face showed a quick smile and said "I don't blame you anyway I'm sorry about the phone call but it was urgent and-"

"Grasshopper it's not a problem besides I was just about to dismiss us for the day anyway."

Mr. Grasshopper smiled and thanked Dimitri. The other musicians filed out of the giant Music Hall one by one, in a matter of minutes the only people who were left inside the Main Music Hall were Mr. Grasshopper and Richard. Richard was still glued in the same spot and only when everyone had left did he regain his ability to speak. He carefully walked over to Grasshopper; he almost couldn't believe what he was seeing. Richard tapped on Grasshopper's shoulder; Grasshopper turned around and automatically frowned at the sight of Richard.

Richard gave a big smile and said very quickly "Hello there! I'm Richard Sinclair you may have heard of me."

"No, I haven't…."

Richard's smile dropped at Grasshopper's remark but Richard quickly bounced back "I'm sure you just forgot my name after all I am quite the figurehead in this city."

"I'll bet…." Muttered Grasshopper as he turned away

"Well I am terribly sorry about how I have acted before hand; see my dear friend William Bellamy had the head violinist position before you did and when I had heard that he had passed away and someone who I wasn't familiar with had his place…..well I just lost my temper."

Grasshopper's frown softened just a bit and he replied "Perfectly understandable."

"S-So how long have you lived in the city?"

"….Around one month and yourself?"

"Oh I've lived in New York my entire life…um your accent, I take it that you're from England?"

"Yes and No..." Replied Mr. Grasshopper casually as he stole a glance at the clock, it now read 2:50 p.m.

"You'll have to pardon me Mr. Sinclair but I must go and pick up James from school."

Grasshopper jumped off the stage with little effort and landed a clear ten feet away. He began to walk towards the doors when he was stopped by a panting Richard.

"That was simply amazing! You must allow me to look at you!"

"L-Look at me?" stuttered Mr. Grasshopper

"Yes look at you, examine you. I would love to meet your mate and your son, James."

Mr. Grasshopper scoffed and replied "I'm sorry to have confused you but I don't have a mate and James is my adopted son."

"My mistake." Said Richard quickly "But I do hope I could talk to James sometime."

Mr. Grasshopper sidestepped Richard but Richard proved to be faster or perhaps more determined. Richard grabbed two of Mr. Grasshopper's arms and said in an unnerving voice "You know grasshoppers are a very fascinating species, I would be delighted to have you over at my house sometime. I'll make it worth your while."

Mr. Grasshopper became flustered and tried to get Richard to release his arm but Richard had quite the grip on him. The silence between the two was deafening but the sudden crash of symbols was louder by far. Mr. Grasshopper and Richard turned around to the stage to see a young woman holding two cymbals together and looking quite smug. She smiled spitefully at Richard and asked in a taunting voice "Don't you have a poor orphan child to pick up from school?"

Richard sneered at the young woman as his grip on Mr. Grasshopper slowly weakened. Mr. Grasshopper took this moment to release himself from Richard's grip and jump away from Richard and safely on the stage next to the young woman.

Richard gave a low growl and replied to the young woman "Young Ladies shouldn't interfere or stick their noses in other people's business."

"Well respectable business men shouldn't be intimidating the new musicians." said the woman curtly

Richard growled and turned to Mr. Grasshopper "I'm so sorry that our time together was cut short but I do hope you'll be able to take me up on my offer and stop by sometime."

Mr. Grasshopper didn't say anything in return but he did wait until Richard was out of the room. He breathed a sigh of relief when he was absolutely sure Richard had left the Music Hall. He turned to the young woman and said "Thank you, that conversation was getting….uncomfortable."

The young woman smiled as she placed the cymbals back in their rightful place "It was my pleasure; I only regret that I hadn't stepped in earlier."

Mr. Grasshopper smiled at the young woman and finally got a good look at her. She had flowing black hair, silver eyes that he swore gleamed under the stage's lights. She was wearing a simple black dress that showed off her curves in all the right places; Mr. Grasshopper wondered why he hadn't seen her in the Music Hall before. After all it was a rare event that they allowed people who weren't part of the orchestra to come in when they weren't performing.

"You know I don't think that we've been properly introduced, I'm Diane" said the young woman as she took a bow

Mr. Grasshopper returned the bow and said "I am Mr. Grasshopper and it is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

Diane smiled and replied "You know I had heard from a friend of mine that there were giant bugs in New York but I couldn't believe it until I saw it. So how do you like New York?"

"It's everything that I thought it would be excluding some….unpleasant things…"

"I must apologize for Richard; he's usually not that strange."

"It's not a problem Miss Diane."

"Please call me Diane; everyone else does."

"Well Diane I must thank you once again for helping me out back there with Richard; He was really starting to make things awkward."

"Well I'm frankly surprised that no one has bothered to tell you about him when you joined the orchestra."

"Could you be so kind as to explain the situation to me?" asked Grasshopper

Diane sighed and replied "This is really something that you should talk to Dimitri about but you can't play here without knowing about him. See Richard comes from old money which means he has influence over practically everything; he has power beyond your wildest dreams and what he doesn't have power or influence over he just buys."

"What's he after? Buying all of that property?"

"….Well you didn't hear it from me but I hear old Richard has got himself a Napoleon complex."

"Ah…That certainly explains a few things…."

Diane paused for a second before saying "I do hope that you won't let Richard get to you. We've lost many a musician over the years and I have to say that losing you would be devastating for the Orchestra."

Grasshopper managed to avoid blushing in front of Diane and said in a soft voice "You are too kind madam but I assure you that as long as the Orchestra is willing to have me, I will always play."

Diane smiled softly and sighed. Her gaze happen to look at the clock to which she exclaimed

"Oh dear. I'm very sorry Mr. Grasshopper but I must be leaving; I have a child that needs to be picked up."

She gave him a small wave and hopped of the stage.

"I hope to meet with you again."

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I must give fair warning that this won't be update regularly; my muse is focused on rewriting another story of mine. Please read an review.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I'm slightly ill so don't expect this chapter to be a work of art. I'm lucky that I am able to get past this author's note.

Demonwolf: I'm happy to hear that you felt your heart race; there'll be more of that to come. Regarding Mr. Richard Sinclair, I can say with the upmost confidence that you will enjoy his hand made demise.

The bell at Sinclair Academy rang loudly as its students stampede out to go to their homes and loving parents. As the steady stream of students died out, there were only a few stragglers left. Soon there was only one child left and that child's name was James. James sat down on the Academy hard stone steps and was waiting patiently for Mr. Grasshopper to pick him up. As James waited, he let his mind wander over to the past events that had transpired over the past month. He and his family had made it to New York and all of their dreams had come true. Spiker and Sponge were locked up in prison for a very long time (James had officer Beatcam's assurance that they were in the most secure one in all of New York.) Mr. Centipede and Ms. Spider were now publicly dating and Mr. Earthworm had found a nice, if not naïve Broadway showgirl. Ms. Ladybug had taken a liking to a widowed firefighter by the name of Charlie who was as friendly as could be, and Mr. Grasshopper had his name up in lights every time he played for the packed house at the Orchestra Hall.

Everything was perfect! Even today's weather was perfect considering the fact that the newscaster had called for severe thunderstorms. James was blissfully daydreaming the minutes away when he heard a sigh. He looked and on the far right of the steps was a young girl not any older than he was. She had black hair tied back in a tight ponytail with brown and gold highlights; she was wearing the school's uniform a traditional blue jacket and blue and white skirt for girls with perfectly polished black shoes with white knee-high socks. It was odd, pondered James, that he had never seen her 0a0round the school before. With that thought in mind, James walked over to the young girl and said "Hello, my name is James."

The girl let out a small gasp; startled by James sudden appearance. She hid her surprise very well and replied "How are you James?"

Then she turned away and stared up at the sky "Isn't it a lovely day?"

James examined the sky and the phrase "lovely day" wasn't what he had in mind to describe the weather. Just a few moments ago, it was like a beautiful spring day but now dark clouds were swirling about as if foreshadowing an ominous event.

"I'm fine, um…miss?"

"Sophia Sinclair" said Sophia as did a small curtsey while she presented herself

"It's nice to meet you Sophia. I haven't seen you around school before; is it your first day here?"

James sat down next to her as she explained "No, I've been out of the country for some months now."

"Really? Wow, that is cool! Where did you go?"

She looked James over as if she were trying to see if he was messing with her. She kept a careful eye on him as she continued

"South America. My father took us to the Amazon so he could continue research."

"Us?"

"My stepsister and I." replied Sophia with a hint of a smile

"Is your stepsister very nice?"

Sophia turned to James and glared "Depends," she snapped "Why do you ask? Hmm?"

He held his hands up in defense "Oh, I didn't mean anything by it but you seem very close."

Sophia sudden anger died off as quickly as it came.

"She's very important to me."

"What's her name?"

"Diane."

"It's a lovely name, what does she do?"

"Well this week she's in the New York City Orchestra but my guess is that she'll leave before this time next week."

"She works at the Orchestra? That's where Mr. Grasshopper works too!"

She stared at James and responded "Mr. Grasshopper? What an odd name for a man…"

James laughed "No, no Mr. Grasshopper is an actual grasshopper."

She scoffed "Please stop this horrible joke."

He gave a friendly pout and said "I'm not joking; Mr. Grasshopper is a part of my family as is Mr. Mr. Centipede, Mr. Earthworm, Ms. Spider, Ms. Ladybug, and Ms. Glowworm. We all flew here to New York from England on a Giant Peach that was carried by seagulls. We faced a horrible mechanical shark that almost dragged us into the Atlantic Ocean and ripped us to shreds. We got lost over a frozen sea near the North Pole and Mr. Centipede, Ms. Spider, and I fought these skeletal pirates underwater then we barely escaped but Mr. Centipede was left underwater. For a few minutes, we thought he was dead but he came up a few minutes later wearing the captain's hat and sword! After that we got out of the North Pole with the compass he got from us and a few days later we faced a giant Cloud Rhino that knocked the peach out of the sky!"

James finished with a gasp of breath and a smile. Sophia had the most amusing look on her face but she shook it off and said to him

"James, I only have one thing to say to you."

"What's that?"

"Don't quit your day job…."

"Why don't you believe me?"

"Because it's completely ludicrous! Come on, a Giant Peach floating through the Atlantic Ocean on the wings of a thousand seagulls is simply impossible….next thing you know is that you'll be telling me that you live in the Peach's pit for a house."

James turned away from her and suddenly found the stone steps very interesting.

"What is it?"

"Well… funny story, I do live in the Peach pit as a house." Said James sheepishly

Sophia threw her arms into the air and exclaimed "How long are you going to continue this ruse?!"

"I swear it's not a ruse Sophia; it's the truth!" replied James in earnest

"Oh please…" said an exasperated Sophia

"Tell you what; how about you come over to my house tomorrow? You could meet my family and hear Mr. Centipede tell the story?"

However, before Sophia could even start a sleek black car pulled up and out stepped the infamous Richard.

James and Sophia fell silent as Richard came up to the school's steps. Now normally James probably would not thought of him strange, after all Richard looked friendly enough if you had not spoken to him. Nevertheless, when he said "Hello", thunder, and lightning following it was enough to make anyone's heart race.

Sophia, out of fear, grabbed James' hand when the thunder and lightning flashed.

"Sophia darling, you never told me you had a boyfriend." Said Richard in his usual nasally voice

Sophia opened her eyes and when she saw what she had done, she immediately let go. She was blushing furiously then she primly stated

"He is not my boyfriend!"

Richard merely smirked and said "Then who is he?"

"This is James and he was just telling me some stupid story about how he came to New York on a Giant Peach with six bugs."

"So you're the James Henry Trotter that I've heard so much about! I've been wanting to talk to you!"

"Y-You have sir?"

"You're buying into this insanity?" commented Sophia

"Oh it's not insanity at all! I, myself have just had the honor of meeting Mr. Grasshopper just a few minutes ago"

"Really? What's he like then?" asked an unimpressed Sophia

"He's a complete gentleman! Now James would you mind if I asked you a few questions about Mr. Grasshopper?"

James was shortly uneasy but said "Um…sure, I guess."

"Wonderful! Now how old is he?"

He gave a nervous smile and replied "I honestly don't know, he's never told me."

Richard's smile faded but he continued on "How tall is he?"

"I think around six feet…"

"Alright, now, how much does he weigh?"

"I-I don't know…"

Richard growled. The boy knew very little. "Okay favorite color?"

"I think he's partial to green."

"Of course! Now favorite food? Can he eat meat?"

"His favorite food is pasta; and he told me when we first met that he was a vegetarian."

"I see…so having humanistic qualities hasn't changed his tastes."

James shrugged "I guess not but um…excuse me sir but why are you here?"

"Ah, I see Sophia hasn't told you about me. I'm her father, Richard Sinclair, and this is my school."

"Wow…it's nice to meet you sir. Sophia has told me that you went to South America."

"We did, although I was the only one who stayed in the Amazon Jungle. Sophia and Diane stayed in the hotel…in fact Diane didn't even set foot in the Jungle." Said Richard with obvious disdain for Diane.

James smiled uncomfortably and wished silently that Grasshopper would come pick him up.

Diane left the Orchestra Hall as quickly as she had entered, leaving Grasshopper by himself. He jumped off the stage gracefully and looked at the old clock. Centipede had called him to ask if he could pick James up from school since he would be stuck at the office until four. Grasshopper had said yes instantly; it was always a pleasure to pick up his son from school.

No sooner had Mr. Grasshopper reached the steps of the magnificent orchestra did he hear a crash of thunder and the downpour of a heavy rain. Seconds later he heard a woman shriek and saw a blurry figure come running back to the safety of the orchestra's steps. When the figure was close enough to him, Mr. Grasshopper could see that it was Diane. She took shelter underneath the alcove with Mr. Grasshopper. She had been caught in the sudden rain. Diane was soaked to the bone and shaking like that last leaf on a tree during a cold and late autumn day. Her hair only moments ago perfectly shaped without a single hair out of place was now wild and everywhere giving the young woman an exotic look.

Mr. Grasshopper without a second thought quickly took off his black jacket and handed it to the freezing Diane who in turn muttered "thank you…."

Grasshopper returned her thanks with a small smile and went back into the Orchestra Hall. Diane was puzzled as to why but he returned with an umbrella and said

"Thought this might come in handy."

She got underneath the umbrella with him and the strange pair started to walk.

"Thank you." Replied Diane "Where are you going?"

"Sinclair Academy and you?"

"Sinclair Academy too."

She and Grasshopper continued their short walk to the school.

"May I ask what you were doing in the parking lot?"

"I was trying to find my car but I couldn't then I got caught in this dreadful rain."

"Did you forget where you had it parked?"

"No I had it placed in the same spot as always but I'm afraid it's gone missing." She sighed

Grasshopper turned to his walking companion and asked, "Do you want to go back to the hall and call the police?"

To his surprise, Diane threw back her head and laughed, "That Orchestra Hall has got only one phone and Richard ripped it out of the wall during one of his little anger fits. Besides I have a pretty good idea on who had it."

"Well if you're sure…"

"I am; don't worry Hoppy, I know what I'm doing."

"Hoppy?" asked Grasshopper quizzically

"Sorry, do I offend?" asked Diane who looked genuinely concerned that she had offended him

"Oh no, not at all; it's just the last time someone called me "Hoppy" it ended badly."

"Oh yeah? What happened?" asked Diane with interest

"N-Nothing."

"Aw come on, you tell me something and I'll tell you something."

He sighed but complied "Okay I'll tell you. We were still on the Giant Peach trying to get to New York. We had just said goodnight to each other and Centipede our self-proclaimed "Captain" went up top to steer the Peach to this wonderful place for the night. I had my doubts about his sailing prowess but the other seemed to trust him completely, so I remained silent. During the night, Centipede had fallen asleep at the helm. I woke up the next morning freezing and when I went topside I saw that we were floating somewhere over the North Pole and Centipede-"

"Had gotten you all lost. Oh my…what did you do? Wake him up?"

"Yes and naturally we fought and he called me "Hoppy". That was the last straw and I ended up kicking him in his smug mouth."

Grasshopper could not help but relish the moment when he did that. It was out of character for him but just getting his aggression out felt amazing. Diane let out a small laugh and asked

"Did you do any damage to him?"

"I knocked out one of his teeth…you know I don't think he's ever gotten it replaced."

Diane laughed again and replied, "Well at least you made it to New York."

Grasshopper muttered something that she did not catch; probably something sarcastic comment.

"Thanks again for letting me borrow your jacket."

"Think nothing of it, my dear."

"My dear?" asked Diane

"Sorry, do I offend?" asked Grasshopper with a ghost of a smirk

Diane laughed "Cute, very cute…"

Grasshopper smiled and it seemed he was going to say something very important but he stopped suddenly

"Hoppy? Are you okay?"

"What's he doing here?" muttered Grasshopper

Diane looked at what Grasshopper was seeing and when she saw only for a minute Sinclair Academy, but when she looked at the main entranced of the school she saw Sophia, a young boy who she assumed was James, and Richard of all people.

Diane felt her blood boil at the sight of Richard as she subconsciously glared at Richard she saw Sophia and James looking more uncomfortable by the minute as Richard continued to talk to them. Thankfully, for James and Sophia, Mr. Grasshopper and Diane interrupted the conversation by literally jumping into it.

"Hello James." As he put himself in between James and Richard

James and Sophia smiled once they saw their guardians come to their aid.

"Hello Mr. Grasshopper!" said James brightly

"So this is the famous James," said Diane with a friendly smirk "Hoppy aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Of course; James this is Miss Diane, Miss Diane this is James."

Diane smile and shook James' hand "It's a pleasure to meet you James and I see you are already acquainted with Sophia."

James blushed and nodded quickly, forgetting about Richard who had been over shadowed.

"So Richard…." Began Diane with venom in every word she spoke "What on earth are you doing here?"

Richard composed himself as if his intentions of being here were perfectly innocent.

"I was just here to pick up my lovely daughter. Surely that isn't a crime now, is it?"

Grasshopper found Richard's statement odd and he tried to make eye contact with Diane in hopes that she might explain but she avoided his gaze.

"This is your daughter? Hmm…."

"Yes, she's a lovely thing isn't she? She can sing, dance, and even play the harp." Said Richard with pride over Sophia as if she was a precious object.

"How curious, I was told you had a daughter in the Orchestra."

"Oh I do, though she never listens to me. Isn't that right Diane?"

Diane looked as though she might strangle Richard but she remained calm and said

"Sophia I think that it's time to go home. Richard if you could please give me my keys?"

Richard gave an eerily smile and pulled out a set of car keys from out of his pocket.

"Here you go…" he smirked as he let them fall

Grasshopper caught them before the keys hit the ground and handed them to Diane who smiled warmly at him.

"You should be more careful…" said Grasshopper to Richard who in turn just laughed

"I see you've got quick reflexes! Simply marvelous!" exclaimed Richard as he Sophia got into a sleek black car

"Coming Diane?" asked Sophia

"I'll be there in a minute, I just need to take care of something." She replied

"Okay um…goodbye James it was a pleasure meeting you!"

And with that, Sophia got into the car and waited for Diane. She turned to Grasshopper who leaned in to her and whispered

"Am I correct to assume that you are related to Mr. Sinclair?"

"You are correct sir." She whispered back

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's not something that I want to advertise; I'm sorry for deceiving you. Forgive me?"

He sulked a bit but replied "Sure…"

Diane smiled and warmed his heart although he probably would not admit it.

Diane walked away from Grasshopper and got in the car.

"Goodbye James, goodbye Grasshopper…"

She did a small wave and then left.

Author's Note: Hmm I updated much faster than I thought I would. Oh well who cares?


End file.
